Mayfair Ma Chére Theatre Production

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February 17-18, 22-25 Blackbox Theatre

In 2010, an idea occurred to me, the storyline for a farce comedy called The Mayfair Affair, where a rich couple in the process of divorce attempts to sell off family assets in order to keep them from one another, only to have their party attended by a series of potential thieves trying to steal a priceless heirloom diamond. The idea came in a quick frenzy of writing, and the outline was there in about 45 minutes. At the time, I hadn’t actually done very much comedic writing, but it seemed like too good an idea to waste. It took 2 more years of wrestling with the script before it was produced in 2012 at Belhaven University, under the direction of John Maxwell and with the contributions of a talented cast and crew. As we struck the set of that production, the inevitable question came: “When are you going to write another one?”

In the writing of the original play, there had developed a rather rich and ridiculous backstory for several of the characters, and the history of the heirloom, and looking at the material, there was a sense that many of these disparate backstories might all actually intertwine around a single event, which could be set in the fertile soil of New Orleans. So the follow-up play became an origin story – a prequel as a sequel.

It continues to be a great joy, creating new works with students. The process of developing a new play is stressful, anxiety inducing, and difficult – scenes get rewritten, new technical elements may need to be added late in the process, and the imminent deadline of opening night always looms large. But the opportunity to throw ourselves into the process, to engage with the fullness of what we have to offer as artists, and the ability to challenge ourselves in specific ways that enable us grow is priceless – like a rare diamond.

I am enormously grateful to this cast (who have significantly impacted the way the characters developed), to the stage management crew (who made this process run as efficiently as a production that already had a script at the start), the designers and technicians (who made such a great environment for the play that I had to write it better so it would deserve such great contributions), and to a long-suffering dramaturg (who has now seen exactly how the sausage gets made).

We hope you enjoy watching the show as much as we’ve enjoyed making it.